Mobile communication systems are in widespread use, and continue to play an increasing role in facilitating information and communication access over large geographic regions. Communication systems are typically shared by many users or subscribers. In certain communication systems, users are organized in groups. For example, in a public safety communication system, a municipality may have police, fire, and emergency medical groups. In other systems there may be groups formed for various business entities, trucking fleets, taxis, and so on.
It is common for the number of subscribers or affiliated parties of a communication system to far outnumber the capacity of the communication system. Communication system operators allow this because at any given time only a fraction of the number of communicators supported by the communication system will actually be engaged in a communication activity through the system. However, occasionally there are periods when a greater number of users than usual will request communication service. It is not uncommon for a particular cell of a communication system to reach capacity at peak times or during events which result in an unusual number of users attempting to communicate. In systems such as those operated for public safety, it is important to maintain some level of access for the various groups supported by the communication system. A simple solution is to limit the amount of system resources a particular group can access. However, such a hard limit may not be optimum when the limited group is experiencing a high amount of communication traffic, and other groups supported by the system are not.
Accordingly, there is a need for a communication system that assures access to communication services by various groups, and which allows a group to exceed a communication resource limit when other groups supported by the communication system do not need the resources.
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The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.